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Beware of Small States: Lebanon, Battleground of the Middle East

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Beware of Small States: Lebanon, Battleground of the Middle East

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Overview

In this magisterial history of Lebanon, from the end of Ottoman rule to the Hezbollah and Hamas wars of today, acclaimed and fiercely independent Middle East journalist and historian David Hirst charts the interplay between a uniquely complex country and the broader struggles of the modern Middle East. Lebanon is the battleground on which the region's greater states pursue their strategic, political, and ideological conflicts—conflicts that sometimes escalate into full-scale proxy wars. Hirst warns that only serious diplomatic action from the Obama administration can prevent the next such action from engulfing the entire region.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781568586571
Publisher:	PublicAffairs
Publication date:	03/08/2011
Edition description:	First Trade Paper Edition
Pages:	496
Product dimensions:	6.10(w) x 8.90(h) x 1.60(d)
Age Range:	13 - 18 Years

About the Author

David Hirst was for many years the Middle East correspondent of the Guardian. His seminal book on the Arab-Israeli conflict, The Gun and the Olive Branch, has been in print for thirty years.

Maps page IX

Acknowledgements XIII

Chapter 1 The Seeds of Conflict: 1860-1923 1

Chapter 2 Zionists and Maronites: An inadmissible affair: 1923-1948 22

Chapter 3 The Reckoning Delayed: Lebanon escapes the consequences of the catastrophe: 1948-1967 45

Chapter 4 Lebanon and the Palestinians: The road to civil war: 1967-1975 75

Chapter 5 Civil War in Lebanon: Proxy war for everyone else: 1975-1976 99

Chapter 6 Imperial Hubris: Israel wages 'chosen war' in Lebanon: 1977-1982 116

Chapter 7 The Massacre of Sabra and Shatila: Israel's imperial nemesis: 1982-1985 148

Chapter 8 Khomeini, Islamists and the Shiite Uprising 1979-1985 174

Chapter 9 The Civil War Closes: Hizbullah rises: 1985-1992 206

Chapter 10 Triumph of the Warrior-Priest: Hassan Nasrallah humbles Zion: 1992-2000 243

Chapter 11 Redrawing the Map of the Middle East: 2001-2006 279

Chapter 12 Getting Syria Out of Lebanon: 2004-2006 297

Chapter 13 The Sixth War: 2006 328

Chapter 14 Who Won?: 2006-2008 375

Chapter 15 Gaza: 2009 398

Epilogue Obaman Peace - Or Seventh War? 419

Notes 428

Index 461

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Editorial Reviews

…a history of Lebanon's fragile democracy over the last 100 years. Like [Hirst's] earlier work, it is rigorous and yet provocative. His theme is that the history of modern Lebanon is one of relentless interventions by the French, Americans, Syrians and, above all, the Israelis. I am particularly fascinated, however, by his reporting on the growth and resiliency of Hezbollah, and how its relatively tiny but highly disciplined militia managed to fight Israel to an inconclusive stalemate in the 2006 war.
—The Washington Post

Kai Bird

A former Middle Eastern correspondent for the Guardian, Hirst (The Gun and the Olive Branch) chronicles the travails of modern Lebanon in this provocative polemic that doubles “as a history of the Arab-Israeli struggle.” Given Lebanon's tiny size, sectarian polity, and strategic location in a volatile region, Hirst observes that it “was almost designed to be the everlasting battleground for others' political, strategic and ideological conflicts.” Lebanon's role in “the struggle for Palestine,” however, is the author's primary interest. Displaced Palestinians flooded into southern Lebanon following the first Arab-Israeli War (1948) and spawned a “guerilla 'state-within-a-state' ” on Israel's northern border. Hirst is solidly in the Palestinians' corner throughout; he inveighs against Israeli policies of “ethnic cleansing” and blocking progress toward a settlement of the Palestinian issue. The author also faults the United States for its “deference to all things Israeli”; takes to task Israel and the Israeli lobby in the U.S. for provoking the 2003 invasion of Iraq; and anoints the Iranians as “the only true victor” of America's war in Iraq. Hirst's is a passionately partisan and eloquent recounting of the tragic fate of modern Lebanon and the Palestinian people. (Apr.)

Publishers Weekly

Beware of Small States: Lebanon, Battleground of the Middle East

Beware of Small States: Lebanon, Battleground of the Middle East

Paperback(First Trade Paper Edition)

Paperback(First Trade Paper Edition)

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Overview

Product Details

About the Author

Table of Contents

Customer Reviews

Related collections and offers

Overview

Product Details

About the Author

Table of Contents

Related Subjects

Customer Reviews